Chance Cullen
by IWillWaitForYou
Summary: Summary: A special girl changes the lives of the Cullen's as they know it when she comes into their lives. I suck at summaries so just give it a chance! Rated T for memories of child abuse and for the language Rosalie thinks at one point. Not to intense but I didn't want to take any chances at all. ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. For the Love of a Child

Chance Cullen

Summary: A special girl changes the lives of the Cullen's as they know it when she comes into their lives. I suck at summaries so just give it a chance! Rated M for memories of child abuse and for the language Rosalie thinks at one point. Not to intense but I didn't want to take any chances at all.

Author's Note: I'm not sure where this is going. I found this on a flash drive that I plugged into my new laptop and really wanted to put it out there. Special thanks to anhanninen for the initial idea of how Chance could come into the Cullen's lives. Seriously her story is one of my favorites so if you like this read hers! It's like a thousand times better. So this will be continued based on the number of reviews, follows, and favorites I receive. So yeah. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just Chance and the lovely ideas I have thought of. Oh I do own the Twilight books and movies. They have their own little section of my room

Esme POV

December 24

My husband Carlisle and I were out in the city looking at Christmas lights. Our new home is in the mountains of Colorado blanketed with snow. The "children" were at home probably playing video games or shopping online or something. I was just hoping that they didn't break anything. "This is nice." I said squeezing Carlisle's gloves hand. Of course he didn't need the gloves but for appearances purposes he wore them. We walked passed an alley and I thought I heard a small whimper. I blew it off and continued walking but couldn't ignore it when I heard it again. My maternal instincts kicked in and I wanted to comfort the crying child. "Carlisle did you hear that?"

"I did."

"Let's go try and help."

We walked into the alley and I began searching for the source of the crying. I saw a tiny, shivering figure huddled into the wall. As I focused on the figure I noticed it was a young girl, probably around 8 or 9 in nothing more than a t-shirt and shorts. No shoes and not even a pair of socks to keep her tiny feet warm. She had beautiful long curly black hair and looked very young for her age but her features gave it away to me.

I began to approach the little one and Carlisle placed a hand on my arm. "Be careful. She's probably terrified."

I nodded and slowly approached the tiny girl. "Hi sweetie, I'm Esme." I tried but there was no answer. I bent down to her level and tried again. "Are you cold sweetie? I could take you to get some warm clothes. Would you like that?" I asked but still had no reply. "What if I wrapped my jacket around you? Would that be ok?" I asked her. She still didn't speak but she looked up to me and nodded her little head. She had bruises all over her face. I wrapped my jacket around her which covered her like it was a blanket. "Where did you get these bruises sweetie?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Did someone hurt you?" Her little grey eyes filled with tears. "Does anything else hurt?" I asked her. She nodded her little head and I could tell she was starting to trust me a little bit more. "My husband, he's a doctor. Would it be ok if he looked at you?" Her little eyes went wide and she began trembling with fear. She shook her head. "He can help you." She shook her head again. "I promise he won't hurt you." She looked at me with curious eyes. "I can hold you if you would like." She nodded her head and I slowly reached my arms to her. She hesitantly accepted the invitation and snuggled into me.

Carlisle approached us calmly and slowly. "Hi little one, I'm Carlisle, I'm a doctor and Esme's husband. I want to help you. Do you understand?" She nodded but her grip on me tightened. "First I want to look in your eyes. Can you look at me sweet heart?" She nodded and lifted her head to look at him. Carlisle looked in her eyes and directed her to follow his finger. Carlisle talked low enough that the little girl couldn't hear him. "Esme we need to take her somewhere warm and somewhere I have more equipment to examine her. We need to take her home with us."

"I agree." I said. This poor child. That's all I could think. Children deserve to be loved and cared for and this one was not. "Sweetie, would it be ok if you came to our house so Carlisle can make you feel better?" I asked her. She nodded and I smiled a bit. For appearances purposes I thought that Carlisle should carry her. "Can Carlisle carry you?" She hesitated but nodded her head. That was a good sign. It meant she was starting to trust Carlisle. He reached his arms to her and she allowed him to pick her up.

Carlisle and I walked back to the car as he carried her very gently. I opened the car door so he could put her in the back seat. She started shaking and looked at me with pleading eyes. "Want me to sit with you?" I asked her. She nodded so I got in the back seat with her. She snuggled into me once again and the feeling was outstanding. I smiled and held her close. My smile was quickly gone when she started sobbing as Carlisle started the car. Something probably happened in a car to her once. "Sweetie everything's fine. No one can hurt you, not while Carlisle and I are here." She nodded and her sobs lightened a little bit. I held her and Carlisle made eye contact with me through the rear view mirror. He gave me a reassuring smile, his way to say everything will be alright. "Don't worry sweetie we are almost there." I said to the scared little girl. She nodded and my promise was short lived as we approached a huge traffic jam. "I'm sure this will clear up in no time." I said to the angel in my arms. She started sobbing again.

"Hey shh, sweetie, you'll be ok." She shook her head and sobbed harder.

"Sweet heart, did something happen in a car once?" Carlisle asked calmly. She nodded.

"Nothing will happen. You are safe with us. I will protect you." She nodded and her sobs subsided a bit.

I squeezed her hand. "Baby do you want to tell us your name?" I asked her. She nodded.

"You can, you can talk to us. We won't yell or hurt you ever." I said.

"Laurel Chance Taylor." She spoke. Her voice was beautiful and angelic.

"Do you like to be called Laurel?" I asked softly. She shook her head. "Chance?" She nodded. "It's a very pretty name." She didn't respond. I guess we were back to no talking. "Do you know where your mommy and daddy are?" I asked her. She nodded. "Are they looking for you?" I asked. She shook her head. I decided to hold off on the questions until Edward was around to tell me what she was thinking. "Oh look the traffic is clearing up. It shouldn't be much longer now." She nodded. I smiled at her warmly so she could tell again I wasn't going to harm her, ever.

We arrived home and I carried Chance inside. I could carry her now since I didn't have to be human in my own home and she was small enough that it wouldn't raise to many suspicions elsewhere. The boys were playing some video game while Rosalie and Alice sat at the computer as I expected, shopping online. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us. The only one not confused was Alice. She must have been blocking Edward out. "Alice will you explain to the rest of the family? I really need to check Chance out." Carlisle asked Alice.

"Sure dad." She answered as I carried Chance up to Carlisle and my room. I placed her in the middle of our large bed which made her look even tinier than before.

"Chance I'm going to examine you now ok?" She nodded. "First let me take your temperature." She nodded and opened her mouth for the thermometer. "100.5, a tiny bit high but probably from being out in the cold." She nodded. "Next I need to check your blood pressure." She nodded and he took her arm. "A bit low but not bad, now I need to weigh you. I'm going to grab our scale." She nodded and Carlisle left to get the scale and returned minutes later. Carlisle helped Chance stand on the scale and I saw his face drop a bit. I knew that meant she was underweight. He laid her back in our bed and continued with the exam. "I need to look at your tummy now ok?" Chance nodded and Carlisle pulled her shirt up to reveal a very bruised tummy. I frowned and Carlisle began pressing on her stomach. She screamed when he pushed on her rib cage. "I'm sorry baby. Does anything else hurt?" She nodded. "Can you show me?" She nodded and pointed to her right thigh. Carlisle pulled up her shorts leg and revealed a burn that had to be made with a cigarette. I could see the anger on Carlisle's face but he quickly composed himself so Chance would not be terrified. "Ok I can help that." He said. She nodded and looked at him with her gorgeous grey eyes. "Are you cold sweetie?" She nodded. "Would you let Esme give you a warm bath?" She nodded again.

I carried her into our bathroom which someone (Alice) had stocked with kid shampoo, a little pink robe, and bubble bath. I started the warm water and poured some bubble bath in. I helped little Chance undress and got her in the tub. I rinsed through her waist length hair and put the raspberry shampoo in it scrubbing her little head. "How old are you sweetie?" I asked. She held up 8 fingers. "Wow you're a big girl." She smiled at me. The little gesture made my heart melt. I helped her bathe herself in the vanilla scented body wash and it saddened me to see more bruises covering her from head to toe. I frowned but continued bathing her. I put a tiny bit of the raspberry conditioner in her hair and rinsed it once more. I cleaned her finger nails and toe nails and washed her little face. Once I finished, I held out a towel to her and wrapped her up drying her off and replacing the towel with the robe. I wrapped a towel around her hair and carried her back to my bed. I grabbed one of Carlisle's shirts and helped her pull it over her head and on her body. It was a dress on her and quite cute if I do say so myself. "Are you hungry?" I asked. She nodded. "How about some nice warm soup and some hot chocolate?" She nodded again. I carried her downstairs and to the kitchen where Carlisle was stirring what smelled like chicken noodle soup. He smiled at us and put a bowel in front of Chance.

"Thank you." She said.

His smile grew wider. "You're very welcome."

She ate her soup and drank the hot chocolate quietly. "Finished?" I asked her. She nodded. "Tired?" I asked as she yawned and nodded. "You can sleep in our bed." I said and she nodded again. I picked her up and carried her to our room and placed her under the covers. I tried to walk away but she grabbed my arm. "Want me to stay with you?" She nodded so I got in bed with her. She rested her head on my chest and fell asleep snoring ever so softly.

Carlisle smiled at us and got on the other side of her. "She'll be ok right?" I asked him.

He sighed "She has a few broken ribs and an infection. She's pretty traumatized too."

"Poor thing. She's barely spoken to us. Just her name and thank you. Will she ever talk to us? Open up a bit?"

"Eventually, yes, but for now she needs time. Time to heal and trust us." He answered.

"Can we keep her?" I asked. Honestly in the short time I had known the girl I'd already thought of her as my little girl.

"For now yes." He answered.

"For now?" I asked.

"Well if her parents are still around..."

"No! You saw what they did to her!" I spoke harshly causing Chance to stir a bit.

"We don't know that for sure." He said.

"Who else could have done that?" I asked.

"She could have been kidnapped." He answered.

"She said she knows where her parents are." I contradicted.

"That doesn't mean she knows how to get to them." He replied.

"I just remembered oh no! We need to go to the mall like now!" I said remembering it was Christmas Eve and we had a child in the house who probably believed in Santa.

I heard the door open and saw Alice.

"I've got it covered don't worry about it." She stated.

"How long have you known?" Carlisle asked her.

"A few days, I didn't want to spoil the surprise." She answered giving us a guilty smile.

"Will she open up to us?" I asked her.

"Not exactly." Alice said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"She'll open up to Rosalie tomorrow and then she'll start talking a little more a little bit

at a time." Alice said looking upset.

"What's wrong Allie?" Carlisle asked her.

"Nothing, you'll find out in time." She answered. "Oh and don't worry, Jasper already has gone to work on the paperwork we will need." Alice smiled.

"What paperwork?" Carlisle asked her.

"Passport, birth certificate, and adoption papers." She smiled yet again.

"So we will adopt her." I asked smiling widely.

"Yes." She said.

"What about her birth parents?" Carlisle asked her.

"I want Chance to tell you about them so I won't explain that part until after she tells you which she will in her own time." She said.

"When will she wake up?" I asked.

"At precisely 8 AM but she won't know it is Christmas. You'll have to tell her." Alice said.

"We will all be out of the house with the exception of Rosalie so we won't startle her. Find a reason to get out of the house leaving Rosalie to watch her. That will be the difference in Chance opening up tomorrow or in a few weeks. We will be out hunting and will come back around 5:45." Alice said.

"Thank you Alice." I said.

"It's no problem." She answered. "I'll see you later. Oh and merry Christmas mom and dad." She said smiling before hugging us both and leaving the house with the others.

The boys were playfully shoving and launching snowballs at each other.

I couldn't help but laugh at them. Carlisle and I stayed in bed with Chance until her snores stopped and she began to wake up. She looked at me with her big grey eyes. "Good morning sweetie. Do you know what today is?" I asked. She shook her head. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" I said loudly but not too loud to scare her. "Santa came and brought you presents, would you like to go open them?"

"Whose Santa and what are presents?" She asked me. My heart broke a little bit and I wanted to cry.

"He's a magical person that brings lots of toys to little girls just like you on Christmas morning!" Carlisle said excitedly. "You get to unwrap them and then play with them!"

"I've never had presents before." She said quietly.

"Well that's about to change." Carlisle said. "Oh and one of our kids is here. Her name is Rosalie and she's very kind." Chance nodded in agreement and Carlisle carried her downstairs. Her eyes went wide at the sight of our very large 12 foot tree decorated to perfection with loads of present wrapped in purple and pink all with silver bows. I saw Rosalie sitting on the couch in pajamas and smiling as she saw Chance in Carlisle's arms.

Rosalie walked towards us and Chance's grip on Carlisle tightened. Any human wouldn't have noticed the slight change and the very little raise in her heart beat but I could tell.

"Chance, this is Rosalie, Rosalie this is Chance." I said.

"Hi sweet heart, well I'm Rosalie but you can call me Rose. All my friends do and I think we will be wonderful friends." Rosalie said smiling at Chance. Rosalie was always so different with children. So much more gentle and loving. I saw the slightest smile on Chance's face and for Rosalie that was enough to melt her heart. "You want to open your presents?" Chance nodded and reached for Rosalie surprising both me and Carlisle. Rosalie gladly took her and led her to the tree with lots of presents.

A few hours later, after Chance had eaten breakfast, it was time to let Alice's vision come true and leave Chance with Rosalie. I smiled at the little one and bent down to her level. "Sweetie, Carlisle and I need to go run a few errands; would it be ok if you stayed here with Rosalie for a little while?" She nodded. "And will you let her give you your bath?" She nodded again. "Ok angel, we will see you later." I said. She wrapped her tiny arms around me and then Carlisle making us both nearly faint of happiness. With that we left Chance with Rosalie to help her heal a bit.

Rosalie P.O.V

Carlisle and Esme left and told me to give Chance a warm bath. "Ready to go take a nice warm bubble bath?" I asked Chance. She nodded so I picked her up. After bathing her, I put her in one of the many new outfits from "Santa" or in this house, Alice. Chance really was the most adorable child I had ever seen in my life. I carried her back downstairs and sat her on the couch. She looked at the Christmas tree and started crying. "Hey sweetie what's wrong?" I asked as I knelt down placing a hand on her knee comfortingly.

"Mommy always wanted to get a tree and give me presents but she never could. She always wanted to though." That was the first time she had ever spoken to me directly.

"Why couldn't she sweetie?" I asked making eye contact with her gorgeous grey eyes.

"We didn't have a house to put the tree in." She said simply.

"Where did you live?" I hoped I wasn't sounding too pushy but I was curious now.

"In the woods until momma…" She trailed off.

"Did she go to heaven?" I asked trying to not sound rude.

"I think she did but daddy said she went to hell and that one day I could go to hell and be with her too." She answered.

I felt anger in me for someone saying that to such a sweet child like Chance. The nerve of that man… "I'm sure your mommy is in heaven with all the angels." I said smiling.

"I hope so. I just can't believe daddy's friends killed her. They were so nice, to me at least, until that night. Then they started being different." She said.

"Who were your daddy's friends?" I asked her.

"I think that Gregg called them dealers. I'm not sure what that is though, all I know is that when they would come my momma would tell me to go hide and close my eyes and ears and to not come back until she came and got me."

So Chance's parents were into drugs? This poor thing knows way too much for an 8 year old. "So you would hide?"

"I hid until that night." She said.

"The night your mommy went to heaven?" I asked.

"Yeah. Every time daddy's friends were over when I would hide, I would hear mommy scream but this time she was screaming louder. I got scared in the dark so I looked to find her. She was naked and so were all the other people there. There was a big man on top of mommy. I screamed because I was scared and the man got off of her and looked at me. He smiled at me and then he shot mommy." She said.

The poor thing watched? She saw her mom get shot and raped? "What happened next sweetie?" I asked.

"One of daddy's friends came to me and took my clothes off. I was scared because mommy told me to NEVER let ANYONE see my private parts. He started touching me and saying things like 'You feel so good baby.' and 'I'm going to have fun with you.' I didn't know what he meant. Next he got on top of me like he did mommy. It hurt REALLY bad. I cried a lot and begged him to stop but he wouldn't. He kept saying it felt good and stuff. He stopped and then daddy's friends left. After that daddy changed. He started hitting me a lot and would spank me even when I wasn't bad. He didn't even use his hand! He would use the metal part on his belt. He did was his friends did to me too and he even asked them to come and have turns with me. Sometimes they would video tape it. I don't know why they wouldn't just stop." She said crying hard now.

I took the now sobbing little girl into my arms and rocked her back and forth slowly. "They were monsters and they had no right to do that to you. No one will EVER do that to you again. I won't let them." That's what I said but what I was thinking was. 'Those bastards were little sons of bitches and would pay for what they did. If any bastard ever lays a finger on you the wrong way or even looks at you wrong I will murder them with my bare hands.' But of course I couldn't say that to a little child.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked me.

"In trouble? What would you be in trouble for?" I asked her.

"Daddy said if I ever told anyone he would whip me harder than ever and then kill me. I don't want to killed or whipped so please don't tell Carlisle and Esme." She said.

I wanted to cry. "Sweetie, your daddy can't hurt you and Carlisle and Esme would never DREAM of hurting or killing you. They will never even spank you." I said to her.

"Promise?" She asked.

"I promise." I answered. "I'm not going to tell Carlisle and Esme unless you want me to because I think you should tell them but I will if you want me to."

"What if they don't like me after they find out?" She whispered.

"They will ALWAYS love you. You didn't do anything wrong sweetie. Those men did something horribly wrong. I promise they will love you no matter what."I tried assuring the tiny girl in my arms.

"What if they want to send me back?" She asked me.

"They will never, ever send you back. You are going to stay with us forever and ever. I promise you that."

"Are they my new mommy and daddy?" She asked me.

"If you want them to be." I said.

"And you are my new sister then?" She asked.

"I am." I answered smiling at her.

"I like having a sister."

"Well I like having a sister too." I answered her a full out grin on my face now.

"I love you Rose." She said as I felt her head on my shoulder.

"I love you too Chance." I answered. If I were capable of crying, I would be sobbing by now. I truly had fallen in love with this sweet child. I think she will be just what our family needs.


	2. If Only You Knew How Much I Love You

3 reviews? Could be better but that's good enough for me to write you a 3,000 word chapter. Please PM me with any ideas. Please review! CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome. Give me feedback PEEPS! Well anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2: If only you knew how much I love you

Esme POV

Chance slept in Rosalie's arms last night. She had her little head placed on Rose's shoulder and her quiet snores were as cute as ever. Today is the day she will meet her other siblings. I wasn't sure how she would react but Carlisle and I decided it would be best to introduce them one at a time starting with Alice and ending with Emmett. Emmett means well he really does but his size would intimidate her. As I heard her little breathing speed up I knew she was beginning to wake up so I sent everyone but Alice out. Chance ever so sweetly stretched her arms and gave a small yawn. She opened her eyes and looked at Rose a bit confused. She probably forgot falling asleep on Rose at all.

Her eyes darted across the room but as they landed on me her tenseness left and she calmed down significantly much. I took this as a sign to move a bit closer and smiled at the thought that I was comforting her solely by my prescence. "Chance there is someone I'd like you to meet." I said. Chance tensed up a bit but relaxed as Rosalie began rubbing her arm. "This is our other daughter Alice." I said. Alice moved towards us a little bit making sure not to scare Chance.

"Hi, I'm Alice. I know this is all really scary but I know one day we will be great friends." Alice smiled as she said this knowingly although I knew that Chance had no idea that Alice meant completely what she said.

Chance glanced at me and I nodded my head encouragingly at her. "I'm Chance." Chance barely whispered but I knew Alice could hear her. Alice beamed on the fact the little one had spoken to her.

"Would you like to meet my brothers?" Alice asked.

I heard the change in heart beat of Chance. It accelerated a bit but she calmed herself down. "Ok." She whispered.

Alice left and returned with Edward because he was the least likely to startle her in anyway. "This is Edward." Carlisle said.

"Hi Chance, I've been excited to meet you." Edward's voice was different than usual. It was calm and gentle. He too had a soft spot for little ones.

Chance scooted closer into Rosalie's chest but said "It's nice to meet you." Even if it was barely a whisper it was an improvement.

Jasper came quietly in and softly spoke to Chance. "My name is Jasper. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jasper kept his voice calm and collected.

"I'm Chance." Was the simple reply he received.

We waited for her to be completely comfortable before bringing in Emmett since his size usually intimidated children until his personality showed them he was just one big teddy bear. As soon as she was comfortable with sitting between Rosalie and Alice with Jasper and Edward close to her, Emmett very cautiously approached us. "Chance, this is Emmett. He's our oldest son."

Emmett flashed his goofy grin and waved at little Chance. "We'll have so much fun together! I'll teach you all sorts of cool things!" Emmett said excitedly but not in his usual loud voice.

Chance shrank into Rosalie a bit. Emmett backed away a few steps. Chance didn't say anything but waved her little hand to him. That was enough to make Emmett smile a huge cheerful smile and Chance started to slowly become used to him being around.

"Well Prancy Chancy, we are going to be very best friends one day." Emmett said smiling again.

Chance let out an adorable bell like giggle which caused as all to smile.

In the following days, Chance slowly began speaking to Carlisle and myself more and more. She would finally tell us when she needed something. She told me if she was hungry and Carlisle if she needed more medicine. She still sleeps between us and we have decided not to push her into sleeping in her own bed until her fears were gone. We have been giving her the love and nurturing that she has always deserved yet never been given. She has begun trusting Alice as well as Rosalie and was beginning to at least not be nervous around the boys.

That's where the cutie pie was now. With Alice and Rosalie getting some sort of makeover. I prayed that they wouldn't terrify her to much with the amount of beauty supplies they owned. I saw Edward wander into the room that I was in. He sat beside me on the couch. "Mom, her thoughts are so sad. She's still afraid that we are going to hurt her and wanders why we are all so kind to her. She thinks we are going to send her back."

"What triggered those thoughts? Do you know?" I asked my worried son.

"That's what is strange, us being nice to her. It reminds her of some person that was nice to her for a while but then hurt her."

"Do you know who? Or what they did to her?"

"I do but Rosalie and Alice both say she needs to tell you and Carlisle herself."

"Is it bad?" I asked slightly worried for my little one's aching heart.

"I'm not going to lie, it's pretty bad but Alice sees her healing."

"So right now I should just make sure she knows we will never harm her in any way?" I asked.

"That's what I think is best." He answered.

"Well I will make sure she knows."

Alice and Rosalie brought Chance in the room wearing one of Alice's dresses and heals that were both way too big for her small body. She had cute makeup on to. I couldn't suppress my small chuckle as I smiled at her. I heard her tiny tummy growl. "Are you ready for dinner?" I asked her.

"Yes please." She responded politely.

"Want to help me cook?" I asked her hoping that answer would be yes.

"Really? I can help?" She asked

I smiled. "If you would like to."

We went to the kitchen and she helped me make her favorite meal. Macaroni and cheese. After dinner, Carlisle came home. He did his usual thing. Kissed Chance on the forehead and sat with her talking about her day.

After dinner I gave Chance her bath and noticed she was tired so I asked if she wanted to go to bed. She gladly accepted the invitation. Carlisle and I stayed with her until she fell asleep but got up to go talk to the kids and check on Jasper's progress with getting the necessary documents.

"How are the papers coming?" Carlisle asked Jasper.

"They are all ready except the adoption papers which I'm very close to finishing." Jasper answered.

"And don't worry. Chance will love the idea." Alice added in.

"I'm excited I just wish she would start to not be scared of me." Emmett sighed.

"She's getting better about that and has improved from the first time she met you." Rosalie comforted.

"She's still timid around Edward and myself too." Jasper added.

"She's been hurt and it'll take time." Edward finished.

"She sure is a cutie." Emmett said.

I laughed. That is the first time I've heard Emmett call anything a 'cutie'. We sat having small talk until Alice stopped and looked at us. "You two need to go be with Chance. She's about to have a nightmare."

Carlisle and I quickly ran to our room and got back in bed with Chance. Sure enough, Chance began thrashing in her sleep. I tried to wake her but my touch scared her more. After many unsuccessful attempts to calm her down, Jasper came in the room and began using his gift to calm the terrified little girl. She became still and her little tear filled eyes flew open. She flung herself into me and began sobbing. Carlisle placed a comforting hand on her back as we both tried to say soothing words to her. She finally calmed down and looked at us both. "I'm sorry." She cried.

"Hey, little one, no need to be sorry." Carlisle answered.

"I woke you up though. Aren't you mad?" She asked us.

"Of course not baby. We are just worried about you." I soothed.

"It was so scary. It was like it was real." She sobbed.

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes that can help." Carlisle asked.

"I was back in the woods with my mommy and daddy. It was the night the men killed mommy. I was scared after she sent me to hide and didn't come get me. I found my way back to her and the big man shot her. Then he and his friends took my clothes off and got on top of me. It hurt really bad." She said.

So those monsters hurt my little girl? They would pay for that. "You know we would never let that happen ever again right?" Carlisle asked her. She didn't answer. "Because we wouldn't. Never in a million years."

"Really?" She asked.

"Chance, I know you probably don't understand this yet but we love you very much and when you love someone you do all you can to protect them from ever being harmed."

She had a tear fall down her cheek. "No one has ever loved me. My mommy said she did but then she wouldn't ever be nice to me." She said sadly.

"Now you have a whole family who loves you more than you could ever imagine." Carlisle told her.

She smiled and slowly drifted into a peaceful slumber between us.

The next morning, after breakfast I noticed Chance eyeing Emmett playing Super Mario Brothers. I thought of telling Emmett but Edward beat me to it. I heard him quietly tell Emmett to ask Chance to play because she was afraid he would say no.

"Hey Prancy Chancy, want me to teach you how to play?" Emmett asked happily.

Chance nodded and Emmett patted the spot next to him on the couch. They played for a long time and I heard them both laughing. Emmett finally exclaimed "I believe you are the best Mario player in the world!" causing Chance to giggle.

"Thanks Emmett." She said in a normal volume. It was the first time she spoke to one of the boys in more than a whisper. After Mario, Edward began playing piano. Chance was with me at the time and asked "Who is playing the pretty music?"

I smiled and responded "Edward is, would you like to go watch?"

She nodded and I led her to the piano room. After watching for a little bit, Edward asked "Would you like me to teach you how to play something?" Chance smiled and nodded.

The next half hour was spent with Edward teaching Chance how to play chopsticks. Once she mastered that she gave Edward a hug and thanked him which surprised us both.

A few days had passed and Carlisle had to go back to work. I heard him saying goodbye to Chance. "I have to go now but I promise I will be back soon and you will have a blast with Emse." I smiled at his tone of voice. He was becoming more and more paternal and it was melting my heart. The kids were at school so I decided today was a perfect day to have our first girly day.

I smiled and made my way to the living room quickly bidding Carlisle farewell before telling Chance of my plans. "So I was thinking since it's just the two of us, we could go and have a girly day." I said. "Would you like that."

"Yeah." She said. She talked in a normal volume when I was the only one around.

First we got our nails done. I picked red and Chance picked sparkly pink. She laughed when she got her pedicure and it came time for the scrubbing part of her foot. She was one ticklish little girl.

After our nails, we went to the salon and got our hair done. I just got it washed since my hair wouldn't grow but Chance got the dead ends cut off. She said she liked having her hair done and I thought what girl wouldn't?

We went to the mall next and bought Chance a few more outfits and finished our trip with a stop at build-a-bear. Chance picked a cute little white bear with a pink nose. The outfit she picked was similar to one of her own. A red sweater, blue jeans, and light brown UGG boots. We finally got in the car to go home.

Once we were home I decided to show Chance my art room. "Chance, do you like art?" I asked her.

"It's pretty." She answered.

"Want to see my art room?" I asked.

"Yes please."

I led the way up the stairs and to the room. She looked at all the paintings before her eyes landed on one of bouquet of flowers. "Do you like that one?" I asked her.

"It's really pretty." She said.

"Do you want to paint a picture?" I asked.

"That'd be so fun! Can I really?" She asked.

"Why of course." I told her.

I laid out a new canvas and some paints for her to choose from before putting an old shirt on her so her own would stay paint free. She painted a beautiful flower. It was much better than any other 8 year old's painting. She was an artist.

Chance waited up for Carlisle to get home. He arrived at 9:30 and she was very pleased to see him. He had to do a quick exam on her to check on her injuries. We took her up to our room and laid her out on the bed. Carlisle checked her ribs causing her to flinch a tiny bit. Carlisle sympathetically said he was sorry and then told her that the good news was that her infection was gone but the bad news was he did have to give her a few shots. I knew these were necessary but that didn't mean I liked the idea. I held her still while Carlisle injected her little arm with five different shots. She cried a bit but was ok after a little bit.

Once Carlisle finished she looked at us both very seriously. "Are you my new mommy and daddy?" She asked.

I felt warmth in me even at her mentioning us as mommy and daddy. Carlisle smiled and answered her. "If you want us to be." He said.

"But that doesn't mean you have to call us mommy or daddy unless you want to." I added.

"I want you to be my mommy and daddy." She told us. We both smiled widely and gave her a hug. It was late and Chance told us she was tired. We laid down for yet another peaceful night of sleep with our little girl.

Carlisle POV

This morning when it was time to go to work, Chance asked if she could come see where I worked. I couldn't say no to her so I agreed. We were in the car when she said "I think you and Esme are the nicest and my favorite people in the world."

I smiled. "Why thank you Chance that means a lot."

After the drive, I helped her out of the car and walked inside with her. I introuduced her to the nurses and my fellow surgeons who all talked about how adorably precious she was.

During my lunch break I decided to take Chance to the play ground. We played for a while until she began to get cold. I asked "Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Yes pretty please." She said sweetly.

"I'll be right back." I told her. I made my way to the concession stand and stood in the decently long line. After a while I heard a shriek and instantly recokgnized it as Chance. I ran as quickly as possible without looking unhuman to my little girl. She was on the ground obviously having fallen from the swings and was clutching her wrist.

"Daddy!" She screamed. If that name had been for anything but pain I would have been extremely happy but she needed me. I took her into my arms and lifted her up carefully carrying her to my car. "Daddy." She sobbed again.

"I'm right here baby, daddy's got you." I told her.

I called Esme while I was driving to the hospital and filled her in on what happened. Once we arrived I carefully carried her to a bed in the ER and ordered x-rays. Esme arrived shortly after they had been taken and rushed to Chance's side. She took the hurt little girl in her arms.

Chance did indeed have a broken wrist and I knew I couldn't handle to set it myself because it would hurt her so I asked a trusted co-worker to do it. Esme and I held her while her arm was set and then I gently asked her what color cast she would like. She answered with pink.

After she had her cast on, we took our little girl home. Reflecting on it, it felt very good to be called daddy even if the circumstance was unpleasant.


End file.
